Early Childhood @EDC

Early STEM Learning at EDC

How do we grow children’s sense of wonder
about their world?
From birth to age eight, children take the first steps in a lifelong learning journey. Promoting STEM
learning during early childhood—using new research-based approaches in varied settings, such as in
school, at home, and in afterschool programs—capitalizes on young children’s natural curiosity and
desire to understand their world. The early years also provide a key window of time to address STEM
learning opportunity gaps for children from high-poverty communities and to ensure they have the
foundational STEM skills and knowledge they need to succeed in school and life.

Research indicates that building on children’s
natural inquisitiveness takes careful attention to
their motivation and persistence, as well as to
the cognitive factors that affect learning. With
support from the National Science Foundation
and the Heising-Simons Foundation, we are
studying the relationship between math learn-
ing and mastery motivation, and are helping
expand the research base of effective inter-
ventions to promote preschool children’s early
math learning. Through this work, EDC will
impact over 2,000 low-income preschoolers by
providing professional development to Head
Start programs on the use of mathematics- and
persistence-related games, and by supporting
families’ at-home participation in mathemat-
ics-related activities.
 Early STEM Learning
What do educators need to support early STEM learning?
Teachers are crucial to young children’s learning. Unfortunately, research shows that many teachers
are not well prepared to teach STEM to young children in developmentally appropriate ways.
Teachers may lack an adequate grounding
in STEM knowledge and effective instruc-
tional strategies. They may have difficulty
discerning how to help all students achieve
standards-based STEM learning outcomes
in a rapidly changing educational landscape.
They may lack confidence in their ability to
teach STEM. Or, they may underestimate what
young children are capable of learning. As a
result, teachers may not provide opportunities
for children to make sense of numbers, pat-
terns, and relationships, or to interact with the
scientific phenomena or practices that set the
stage for later learning.
To some extent, these issues reflect a gap
between what researchers are discovering
and what practitioners are able to implement
in their classrooms. EDC is committed to
strengthening and reframing the relation-
ship between research and teacher practice
in STEM education in formal and informal
settings. As a major partner in the Research
+ Practice Collaboratory, EDC is working with
educators in Auburn, Maine to develop and
study a model of research practice collabora-
tion to improve learning of math in the early
grades using interactive mobile technologies.
The initiative is contributing to the research
base about what works in early STEM learn-
ing, in supporting elementary school teachers
with STEM pedagogy and content knowledge,
and in supporting children from low-income
families who may have less access to STEM
experiences.
EDC also is committed to helping teachers
apply curriculum and educational standards
that reflect the growing body of evidence on
Early Childhood @EDC | 2
what very young children are capable of learn-
ing and how best they learn. For instance, in
Chicago we are providing professional devel-
opment to general education and special ed-
ucation teachers in grades K–5 to significantly
increase their capacity to help all students
achieve standards-based learning outcomes in
mathematics. In Massachusetts—in response
to the state’s new K–12 Dig­ital Literacy/Com-
puter Science Standards—we are working with
teachers across the state to integrate compu-
tational thinking (CT) into science and math-
ematics learning in Grades 1–6. In a second
project, we are exploring how to build teacher
capacity so that young children in urban and
rural preschools can learn CT concepts and
practices in the context of math instruction.
EDC draws upon interactive audio instruction
(IAI) to support educators and community
mentors in using high-quality curriculum to
improve STEM outcomes for children who
are on the margins due to poverty, language
minority status, mobility, ethnic or political
identity, and situations of crisis.
In Paraguay, our Tikichuela (Mathematics in
My School) IAI program used audio CDs to
help 400 teachers engage preschool children
in high-quality standardized lessons. After
only five months, a rigorous evaluation found
that the students of pilot program teachers
who received training and in-class tutoring
achieved an average of a 16-point increase in
their mathematics scores over those not in the
program. The program has continued to show
effects and has been sustained and expanded
into Grade 1 by the government of Paraguay.
 Early STEM Learning
What can be done to support STEM learning
for all children?
As early as kindergarten and the early grades, there are painfully real opportunity and achievement
gaps between children from higher and low-income households, but we need not accept these
gaps as inevitable.
It is essential to build school-home-
community partnerships that give all children
the opportunity to engage in authentic science
explorations and mathematical thinking.
Our organization has a special focus on meet-
ing the needs of children from disadvantaged
communities and of dual language learners,
on engaging and supporting families, and on
building capacity to sustain improvements.
In the U.S., a federal i3 development grant is
giving us the opportunity to use the engaging
context of science to support the literacy and
academic success of young English language
learners. Working with Hartford Public Schools
and the Connecticut Science Center, we are
providing 100 pre-K and first-grade teachers
and coaches with professional development,
and engaging 2,000 families in their children’s
early science and literacy learning through
Early Childhood @EDC | 3
classroom explorations, family events, and
family “toolkits” to extend science exploration
at home.
Likewise, with federal grants and with funding
from private foundations, EDC has commit-
ted more than $5 million to identify develop-
mentally appropriate strategies and tools for
using technology and media to support STEM
learning among children in low-income com-
munities that historically have had less support
for early engagement with STEM content and
practices. We are achieving this in formal and
informal settings in partnership with research-
ers, media producers, and educators who are
using iterative co-design processes to inform
the development of evidence-based curricu-
lar programs and professional development
resources.
 Early STEM Learning Early Childhood @EDC | 4

Can technology make a difference

in young children’s STEM learning?
Yes, but technology alone is not enough.

Interactive Audio Instruction and digital re-

sources, such as narrative-rich videos, mobile
apps, and online games with built-in assess-
ments, can play pivotal and productive roles
in preschool teaching and learning, but they
require thoughtful planning to integrate, use,
and sustain. Even the best-designed tools
can never replace human interaction or good
teaching. Young children need caring and
knowledgeable adults to help them navigate
and learn about the world, and this includes
the world of technology.
Much of our work emphasizes the role that
adults play in using technology to engage
children in rich STEM learning and to mediate
children’s use of digital games and videos.
We try to reflect this approach to technology
in our research, and in guidance we provide
to educators. Through the U.S. Department of
Education’s Ready To Learn Program and a $15
million program of research, for example, we
have the opportunity to help PBS and the Cor-
poration for Public Broadcasting create better
services for children and families, especially in
communities where there are high concentra-
tions of poverty.

Who is needed to create long-lasting early STEM programs?

Everyone—from those living in the White House to those living with the support of local housing authorities.

Promoting STEM knowledge and skills during
early childhood requires a systematic approach
and the combined efforts of many committed
partners. In the U.S. and around the world, we
work to create strong, coherent pre-K–Grade
3 systems and to advance knowledge of how
to improve early learning. In partnership with
federal and state agencies, private founda-
tions, ministries of education, and commu-
nity-based and direct service organizations,
we implement innovative early childhood
programs that build numeracy, science, and
literacy skills, that excite interest in learning,
and that help educators, volunteers, mentors,
and parents enrich early learning.

Education Development Center, Inc.

EDC designs, implements, and evaluates programs to improve education, health, and economic
opportunity worldwide. Collaborating with both public and private partners, we strive for a world
where all people are empowered to live healthy, productive lives.

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